Joseph musee



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Sml J. MUSER.

GUARD RAILING.

Patented A .1.'1888.

:HIIIHI IHIHHHIIIHIH ATTORNEYS.

UNiTnD STATI-3Sv lMrnN'r Genion.

J OSEPHMUSR, VOF NEW YORK, N. Y.

GvUARD-RAILING.

SPECIFICATION forming part o f Letters Patent No. 380,657, dated April3, 1888. Application filed November Q8, 1887. Serial No. 256,290. (Nmodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

l Be it known that l, J osnPH MIUsnR, of the city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inGuard-Railings for rIrap-Doors, Hoistways, die., of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to an improved guardrailing for trapdoors,hoistways, and similar purposes which can be folded down flush with theiioor when the trap-door is closed, and which is raised and locked inraised position when the trap-door is opened, so as to prevent accidentsto children and others in falling into the opening of the trap-door.

The invention consists of a guard-railing for trap-doors and otherpurposes which is set into a recess of the floor flush with vthe samealongside of the opening, it being composed of a stationary base-piece,a iianged top piece, two sets of links pivoted, respectively, to thebasepiece and intermediate connecting-pieces and to the top piece andsaid con nectingpieces, and a locking-lever that is pivoted to thebasepiece and connected by a pivot-sleeve with one of the pivot-links,so as to lift the entire guardrailing when desired, while a pivoted endsection of the lever extends from one set of strips to the other set ofstrips,so as to lock both sets when in raised position. The foldingguardrailing may be made of one section extending along one end of thetrap-opening, or with an extension at one or both ends, so as to extendalong two or three sides of the trap-opening, as required. The foldinglinks of the side extension are connected by intermediate pieces, whichare hinged to the intermediate pieces `of the main section and raisedand locked with the same,as will be fully describedhereinafter, andiinally be pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l represents a side elevation of asection of my improved guard-railing, showing the same locked intoraised position, the dotted lines showing the intermediate position ofthe same in the act of being raised or folded. Fig. 2 shows a similarView of another section of the guard-railing. Figs. 3 and 4 areelevations showing thesections of the guard-railing folded up. Fig. 5 isa top View of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a detail top view, partly in horizontalsection, showing the locking device of the guard-railing 5 and Fig. 7 isa plan showing the location of my improved guard-railing along two sidesof a trap-opening.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the angular base-piece of myimproved guardrailing for trap-doors and other purposes; B, the angulartop piece of the same; C C, the lower set of pivot-links; C G, the'upperset of pivot-links, and D D the transverse connecting-straps of thepivot-links C C. The lower links, C C, are pivoted to the base-piece Aand the connecting-straps D, and the upper links, C', are pivoted to theconnecting-straps D and the top piece, B. One connecting-strap D ispivoted to a group of pivot-links, C C', at one side of the center lineof the section, while the other strap D is pivoted to the group of linksG C at the other side of the center line. When the guard-railing is toextend along two sides of the trap-door opening, the base and toppieces,A and B, are extended at one end at right angles in the form ofan L.. In this case side links, C2 C3, are used, which are pivoted tothe extensions A lB of the base and top pieces, said side links beingconnected by a hinged strap, D', to the next adjoining intermediateconnecting-piece D. The hinged side strap, D', is formed of two pieces,d d', the longer piece,d, of which is'pivoted to the side links, G2 O3,as shown in Fig. 2, while the shorter piece, d', is hinged to the pieced and to the strap D', as shown in Figs. 2, 4., :and 5.

The right-hand group of pivot-links C C' of the main section of therailing is slightly bent at the upper and lower ends, or pivoted at agreater distance from the angular base and top pieces, so as to permitthe folding of the lefthand group of pivot-links back of the righthandgroup when the guard-railing is to be folded up. The raising and lockingof the entire guard-railing is accomplished by a lifting and lookinglever, E E', which is pivoted to a stationary lug, e, of the base-pieceA, the section E of the lever being connected by a pivotsleeve, c, toone of thelower pivot-links, C, of one group of links, while the sectionE of the lever is pivoted to the outer end of the section E and providedwith a keeper, ea recess, e3, and a knob or button, e4. The keeper e2engages one of the pivot-links C of the other group of links, while therecess e3 engages a ICO pin, e5, of one of the lower pivot-links, C, soas to lock thereby, by the joint action of the sleeve e', keeper e2,section E', and pin e5, both groups of links firmly in raised position.For lowering the guard-railing the 1ever-section E is released from thepin e5, the keeper e"Z released from the upper link, C ,While theleversection E moves by its pivot-sleeve e along the pivot-link C oftheleft-hand group,whereby the pivot-links of one group pass back of thepivot-links of the other group, as shown in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and2, until finally all the pivot-links are folded together and the toppiece, B, arrives in position on the base-piece A, as shown in Figs. 3and 4. During the folding action of the guardrailing the group of linksof the side section or extension is also folded up, While the hingedsections d d of the side strap, D', are drawn by their connecting-strapD into line with the folded groups of the main section, as shown inFigs. 3 and 5. In the folded position the entire guard-railing is fiushwith the floor. When the trap-door is opened and the guard-railing is tobe raised, so as to prevent accidents by falling into the trap-dooropening, the lever E is lifted by taking hold of its knob e", so thatits pivot-sleeve e raises the groups oflinks C C and C2 C3 and theconnecting-straps D D', of which the hingestrap D moves back into theplane of the group of side links, as shown in Fig. 2. When the main andside sections of the guard-railing are raised to their full height, thepivoted lever-section E is moved sidewise, so as to engage by its keepere2 and recess e3 the pin e5 andthe group ofpivot-links, as beforedescribed. The entire guard-railing is thus firmly locked, so as tofurnish a reliable means for preventing accidents to grown people andchildren in connection with the openings of trap-doors, hoistways, andthe like.

Having thus described myinvention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. A guard-railing for trap-doors and other purposes,composed of a basepiece, a top piece, a set of lower pivot-links, a setof upper pivotlinks, intermediate transverse straps which connect thesets of pivot-links into groups, and a lifting and locking leverprovided with a pivot-sleeve connected to the links of one group, andwith a locking device for connection with the other group, substantiallyas set forth.

2. The combination of a base-piece, a top piece, setsrof folding linkspivoted, respectively, to the base and top pieces, intermediateconnecting-strips pivoted to the sets of pivotlinks so as to formgroups, and a lifting and locking lever pivoted to the base-piece andmade of two pivoted sections, one section being provided with apivot-sleeve that moves along one of the pivot-links of one group, whilethe second section is provided with locking devices for interlockingwith one of the pivot-links of the other group, substantially as setforth.

3. The combination of a basepiece, A, having an extension, A, a toppiece, B, having a similar extension, B', alower set of pivot-links, C,an upper set of pivot-links, C', side links, C2

C3, transverse connectingstraps D D D', connecting the pivot-links so asto form groups of links, the side strap, D', being formed of twosections hinged together and to one of the straps D, and alifting andlocking lever formed of two pivoted sections, E E', of which one sectionis pivoted to the base-piece A and proi vided with a pivot-sleeve, e',engaging one of the pivot-links of onegroup of links, while the secondsection is provided with locking devices for engaging the pivot-links ofthe upper group of links, so as to lock the parts of the guard-railingin raised position, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed myname in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH MUSER.

y lVitnesscs:

" PAUL GoEPEL,

MARTIN PETRY.

